Mobile Dating Applications and the Sexual Self: A Cluster Analysis of Users’ Characteristics

The online environment has had a profound sociocultural impact, and its implications pose new challenges to modern-day societies. The digital sexual and dating domains have dramatically affected sexual and romantic behavior and norms, and yet, no empirical studies have addressed the role of the sexu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 19; no. 3; p. 1535
Main Authors Mateizer, Alexandru, Avram, Eugen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland MDPI AG 29.01.2022
MDPI
Subjects
Access to information
Cluster Analysis
Communication
Humans
Internet
Likert scale
Mobile Applications
Motivation
Personal relationships
Pornography & obscenity
Self Concept
Self esteem
Sexual Behavior
Sexual Partners
Sexuality
Social networks
online sexual activities
mobile dating applications
dating
cluster analysis
sexual satisfaction
sexual self
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Summary:The online environment has had a profound sociocultural impact, and its implications pose new challenges to modern-day societies. The digital sexual and dating domains have dramatically affected sexual and romantic behavior and norms, and yet, no empirical studies have addressed the role of the sexual self-concept in driving sexual and romantic online behavior. The aim of this study is to identify reliable sexual self-configurations through a cluster analysis approach and determine whether these profiles are informative in relation to app use motives and sexual outcomes. For this purpose, a total of 244 subjects were recruited. Survey questions measured a set of demographic parameters, motives for app use, online sexual activities, attachment orientations, the sexual self-concept and sexual satisfaction. Five clusters were identified, including two with high levels of sexual drive (“Driven” and “Adventurous”), two with low levels of sexual drive (“Unassured” and “Naïve”) and one with an intermediate level of sexual drive (“Competent”). The clusters differed on gender, attachment styles, app use patterns and sexual characteristics. These findings provide insight into how the sexual self-concept relates to the interaction between individuals and the online sexual and dating scenes.
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ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph19031535